Perhaps if some folks had been reading Shift about eight years ago, when we told you “For Inslee, goal is higher gas prices,” they would not be surprised today that the results of allowing Governor Jay Inslee to hang around would lead to higher fuel prices. Instead, we have the Seattle Times reporting that “Leaders from at least a dozen Washington tribes may soon meet with Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration to raise concerns and ask questions about the effects of the state’s new carbon-cap system on gas prices and tribal sovereignty. Some say they’re taken aback by how much the system seems to be driving up gas prices, despite Inslee’s assurances that increases would be marginal.”

The crocodile tears being shed by these special interest groups which have spent millions to elect and re-elect Inslee are likely to have little impact on their members’ wallets at the gas pump though, as “the difference between Washington’s average price and the national average has grown about 40 cents a gallon, according to AAA data” thanks to Inslee’s preferred cost-raising policies. You can read more about how the tribes were allegedly tricked into believing Inslee when he said about his cap-and-tradetax law that this “is going to have a minimal impact, if any. Pennies. We are talking about pennies” here… Shift, Seattle Times.

One of the predictable outcomes of the recent legislative session is the number of post-mortems coming out about veto actions taken by Governor Jay Inslee after the people’s elected representatives have left Olympia. The latest one, courtesy of the Centralia Chronicle, allows Senate Republican Leader John Braun to point out that “It’s very disappointing that the governor vetoed provisions that would have addressed accountability and transparency in state government. Unfortunately, it’s consistent with the long history of mismanagement that is the hallmark of his term as governor.”

Gov. Inslee’s partisan attack on open government led State Representative Dan Griffey to call “Inslee’s veto ‘dangerous’ and ‘tone deaf, and argued the decision prioritizes sexually violent predators over public safety.” You can find out more about why Inslee “eliminated a performance audit that would have gathered data about the current state of special education funding” here… Daily Chronicle.

It’s the time of year (“Summertime is the Super Bowl for the ferry system”) when ferry boats will fill with Washingtonians hoping to escape the big city (or commute to the big city), but will it ever be time for Governor Inslee to give up clinging to his COVID-desperation decision to fire ferry employees who are now so desperately needed? This KING5 report points out that this “spring has come with canceled routes and boats out for repair. Washington State Ferries started its six spring community meetings to discuss its service restoration plan and ask for community input. Community members questioned crew staffing and the number of vessels in the fleet.”

It’s certainly true that building boats takes more time, but staffing is another matter. But today’s report doesn’t leave you coming away feeling that Washington’s current “coach” is inclined to admit a mistake and field a full team for this “Super Bowl” here… KING5.

First it was the illegal exploratory committee.  Then it was the donor-hiding funds transfer. Now it’s something as simple as releasing his calendar and he is still “hiding behind the privilege (that) is a time-honored method of ducking the public records act” and that reporting by the Washington Observer has us wondering, what is it that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is hiding from the people of Washington State as he “explores” running for governor? You can read about Ferguson’s latest self-inflicted secrecy error here… Washington Observer.

Filing week is history, so now it’s all over except for the campaigning. Axios-Seattle captures the depth – if not the quality – of the Seattle City Council races, given that “(N)early four dozen people are seeking jobs on the Seattle City Council this year, in an election that will replace at least four members of the nine-member body.” You can read how that number could thankfully go even higher, if the voters make the correct decision to eliminate mediocrity since “three incumbents on the ballot — Councilmembers Tammy Morales, Dan Strauss and Andrew Lewis — also face challengers and will have to fight to win re-election,” here… Axios Seattle

A top issue for reporters, but unfortunately not for many actual voters it appears, is access to public records and the work of the Sunshine Committee to keep that access open.  And the News Tribune captures the legislature’s current state of (dis) interest by pointing out that “(D)espite the fact that the Sunshine Committee issued only two recommendations during the 2023 legislative session, no legislators chose to sponsor bills addressing either of them. Since the Washington Supreme Court held that lawmakers are subject to the Public Records Act in 2019, no proposed legislation from the committee has been passed.”

So, if the legislature is going to ignore the committee’s work, why bother wasting taxpayer money on it? You can learn about why, according to one legislative member, “we can’t go away on our own, the Legislature has to make that happen” here… Tacoma News Tribune

Shift believes that it is worth the regular reminder, like when government bodies are holding hearings asking questions with obvious answers, that the Washington State Democrat Party favors the legalization of hard drugs in its platform, and that it should come as no surprise that liberals will stand up for that right. KOMO captured the latest example on tape, with a government bureaucrat admitting the obvious about the city’s failed attempts to clear city streets: “one of the principals of harm reduction is we want to champion autonomy of people who use drugs. There are folks who don’t want to stop using drugs, there are people for whom abstinence is not a measure of success in their life.” You can see more how Seattle liberals want to keep using your tax dollars to make it easier to “measure success” by getting high here…WA Democrat 2022 Platform, KOMO.

LOST POLICE OFFICERS = LESS PUBLIC SAFETY

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